The prince and his slave Ch1
by ArchAngelDuskandDawn
Summary: When a Prince and a mud meet eye to eye, can it be true love? And will their love be strong enough to keep them together? There's only one way to find out. To fight for their love! ArchAngel (my Ponysona) The Prince is Stormy Hero, Ponysona of my friend Rayhiros on DeviantArt. Name is not mentioned because Stormy lost his memory and his real name is never revealed.
1. Chapter 1

_**The Prince and the Slave**_

**Chapter One**

It was a day like every day before. It's always the same. At least from the Prince's point of view.

Waking up at 7 a. m every day, breakfast in bed, having a bath, getting dressed and then meeting his royal advisers in the throne room. He felt more like a puppet with invisible strings attached to his body. HE WAS THE PRINCE. And yet he was treated like a young colt who always needed some pony to tell him what to do. Being a prince doesn't only mean living in a castle and having everything you need and want. It's more the opposite.

Because the thing he wanted the most was the thing he just couldn't have.

Freedom.

But he had to live with it, no matter if he liked it or not.

This morning the Prince had to meet with the local Lords and Ladies around his kingdom.

They wanted to talk with him about matters considering their land. The rest he couldn't remember.

He and his advisers prepared to leave the castle with a chariot, drawn by his royal guards.

They will meet at the "Skylla Inn", a pub only for wealthy Ponies. But for that they'll have to

go through the city. The Prince was annoyed, he would be much faster if they would fly.

He was a Pegasus, it's his nature after all. But no, it would be too dangerous.

The Prince just rolled his eyes.

Luckily the trip only lasted 20 minutes. Unfortunally the meeting didn't. Listening to their boring conversation about why one Lord should give another Lady more land, just because she needed more space to build her own little lake so her nephew could go fishing there.

After 2 hours they finally had an agreement and the Prince settled down in a private room in the back to rest. He noticed a simple brown coat hanging at the wall shortly after the others left the room. Without thinking he snatched the coat and left the pub through a window.

He put on the coat and blended into the normal pony folk.

It was amazing to see his kingdom in a complete different view. So many ponies, but none of them recognized him. It was wonderful!

The Prince knew his guards and advisers would already be looking for him, but he didn't cared. For once he finally felt…. Free. As he walked around the corner, lost in his thoughts, he suddenly felt something crash into him and he stumbled back, trying to keep his balance.

Right after that he heard a cry of surprised, he opened his eyes again and saw a white mare lying in front of him. She fell into a puddle of mud after they crashed into each other.

But by the looks of it, she was already dirty before. She brushed her red mane out of her face and looked at him with a hurt look.

The first thing the Prince noticed was, she was a unicorn. The second thing, were her eyes. She had big, dark brown eyes and inside them was such a sadness he had never seen before.

His hearted skipped a beat as he looked at her closely. She looked up at him.

"I'm very sorry, I didn't saw you there."

"No no, it's ok. It was my fault."

The Prince bent down and helped her up, but the moment she stood his hood slipped off his head and revealed his face. Of course she recognized him and with a shocked expression she threw herself back into the dirt, quivering in front of his hooves.

"I'm so sorry your highness, I didn't meant to cross your path and dirty your coat. Please, accept my apology, please don't punish me!"

The Prince was shocked to see her react like that. She was really scared of him!

Do all of his subjects feel like that about him?

It nearly broke his heart to see her like that, so he bent down once more and helped her get up again.

"I'm not going to punish you, I assure you that. Nobody got hurt, so please don't be scared of me. Tell me, what's your name young mare?"

Just as she was about to answer his question the royal guards and his advisers appeared behind the Prince.

"Your highness, here you are! We've been looking for you everywhere!"

As the white mare saw the guards her fear grew and she suddenly ran for her life.

The Prince yelled after her, asking again for her name but she already vanished behind a corner.

"My Prince, you really shouldn't talk with a mud like that one. She's not worthy your presence!"

"Now look at you! Your clothes are dirty too. It's time we head back to the castle. We still got a lot of work to do!"

The Prince, his guards and his advisers made their way back to the pub, got in to the chariot and headed back to the castle.

Since then weeks passed and he didn't saw the white mare with the big, brown, sad eyes again.

It was a sunny morning and the town was already filled with voices everywhere. And in a small cottage, which seemed like it could fall apart any minute, slept a small frame. Cuddled up into a dirty, old and thin blanket.

The creature under that blanket shifted a little on the cold, hard floor it slept on and revealed white hooves and dark red hair. It yawned, stretched its legs and finally got up.

In fact, the creature was a pony. A white mare with a dark red mane and tail. In the morning light it almost looked like blood. As the blanket slipped from her face, her horn was now fully visible. She was a unicorn.

Again she stretched her knocked up body and made the biggest yawn you've ever seen.

She sat there for a moment, still fighting the urge to go back to sleep and stay awake.

Even though she slept the whole night through, she was just soooooo tired.

She was always tired. Well, almost. If she wasn't tired, she was hungry. And she was always hungry.

But it's no surprise, if you just got no food. She looked around her cottage, trying to spot anything that she could eat. But she wasn't lucky. It seemed like she had to go out and find something. Finding food was always a hard task, considering that she didn't have money to pay for it. Mostly she just looked around if any pony lost an apple for example or anything else. If she wasn't lucky…. Well, she had to steal then.

The little mare never liked stealing, because she could get into big trouble because of it if she wasn't careful.

So she left her little cottage and went on her little journey through town, just like every day.

Only now, she was more cautious then normal. Because last time….

She could have run into any pony, a simple salespony, a knight or another street rat like her, but no….. She ran into the PRINCE! WHY did it have to be the PRINCE?!

She really could have gotten into trouble. She thought he would yell at her, punish her because she dirtied up his coat. Instead he helped her out of the dirt and smiled at her.

It really surprised her, because that wasn't the reaction she normally got. Most ponies ignored her, but some would look at her with disgust or even hatred. They just didn't wanted to be around a dirty street rat like her.

Her mane hang in streaks down her face and her normally white coat was more greyish-brown because of the dirt. After all those years living on the street, you could only imagine the young, snow white unicorn she used to be.

Yes, there were many things she used to be. She used to live in a nice house, used to have a family. Parents, sisters, brothers in law and nieces and nephews. She used to have friends, go to school, have fun. She used to spend time drawing pictures on her laptop whenever she could.

And now? Now it's all gone. Burned down and died in a raging fire. She was the only one left.

And now she was all alone. No real home, no family and no friends.

And no pony looked at her like the normal filly she used to be.

Except for him.

Him.

The stallion with the bright blue eyes, just like the sky…

She quickly shook her head. She really shouldn't think of him that way. He was a Prince. Royalty! And she was just….. a mud.

But she had to admit that he was a real stud! But since that incident a few weeks ago she avoided him. She didn't wanted to be seen near him, because it was like a crime if you bothered the Prince. She saw him a few times, but every time she saw him she turned away or hid somewhere and just watched him. Waiting for him to leave so she could go on.

But every time she watched him from around a corner he looked like….. he was looking for something.

But of course he wasn't looking for her. Why should he? She really couldn't think of a reason why. There wasn't anything interesting about her.

Or maybe….. maybe he changed his mind and saw that the stains he got from her on his clothes wouldn't come off and now he's angry with her!

That thought really made her shiver. But…. He looked so nice at first…..

While she kept on thinking about the prince she, again, bumped into something. But this time it was a cart. A cart full of beautiful and delicious apples.

The mare looked around. The sight of those apples made her drool a little. She was soooo hungry! Again she looked around if any pony could see her, and she quickly snatched an apple from the cart and tried to make a ran for it.

When she suddenly felt a hoof on her neck, she was jerked back and forced to drop the apple.

"Now what do we have here? A dirty little thief!"

Her eyes widened in fear. She got caught. By a ROYAL GUARD!

He looked at her with a smile, but not the kind that would make you smile back.

He had a smile on his face that told her that this was it. She was doomed!

"Now, do you even have the slighted clue who you just stole from?"

She bit her lips, she didn't knew what to say. If she said no, he would laugh at her for being so stupid. If she said yes, he would punish her for being so foolish to steal from the royal family.

"So? What's wrong, cat got your tounge? ANSWER!"

Now she was shivering with fear, trying to fight back her tears.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't knew-"

"You didn't knew? What are you? Blind? Didn't you see the royal crest on the cart?"

Now he jerked her once again, holding her face against the cart, making her look at the royal crest painted on the cart.

"Do you know what we do with ponies who steal from the royal family?"

She quickly shook her head, some tears falling from her eyes.

"Well, you'll soon find out!" With that he pushed her on the ground, put his hoof on her back and grabbed a rope from the cart. He tied up her front hooves, then picked her up, spread his wings and flew her to the castle

The Prince was bored out of believe, it's been over a month the last time something interesting happened. There really wasn't anything to do. He tried to entertain himself, tried to draw something, which was one of his hobbies, fly around the castle a few times to train…

But it didn't really work. So he decided to take a walk through his garden. It was always relaxing to listen to the birds and just walk around outside without any pony near him. As he was walking around, he entered his favourite part, the rose garden. He loved the smell of the flowers and the sound of digging….. Wait, digging?

He looked around and saw a pony, digging around the roses, planting new ones.

He looked at the pony and as he came closer he recognized it. It was the white mare he ran into on the market a month ago. He never imagined that he would see her here, in his own castle.

The Prince was about to say something, call out to get her attention as he noticed her stumbling, losing her balance and then she fell. She was out cold. Shocked he ran up to her, nudging her to wake her up. She didn't respond, but she was still breathing.

What should he do? It scared him to see her that way, but he couldn't leave her like that.

Without thinking he picked her up, threw her on his back and quickly flew back to his room, entering through a window.

He gently laid her on his bed and thought of what he could do. He covered the mare with a blanket and then sat next to her and waited.

As she woke up, she didn't knew where she was. The last thing she could remember was digging in the ground, planting new roses. Then she fell. But whatever she was lying on didn't felt like the hard ground she was on last. It was soft and smelled wonderful. It felt like sleeping on a cloud….. A cloud?! Oh god, did she…. Did she die? Was she in heaven? She couldn't believe it, was it finally over? Her cruel life…..

She opened her eyes, but it was too bright. It took some time before her eyes could adjust, but then suddenly a wing came into view. A wing? Where did this wing came from?

But then, all of a sudden everything became blue. All she could see was blue. Blue like the deep sky….

"Hey, are you alright?"

A voice rang in her ears. Was it an angel? Was it the mighty creator of all ponies?

"How do you feel?"

Finally she see could see better and what she saw frightened her. It was a pony. But not any pony. It was HIM again.

"Hey, can you hear me? Do you feel better?"

She looked at him. Where the buck was she? She looked around, it definitely wasn't the royal garden. Oh god was she… in his bedroom? And in his bed too?! "I-…"

"What's your name? You didn't tell me last time."

"My name? W-Why do you want to know?"

"Well, I want to know your name when I talk to you."

"My name is… ArchAngel."

"That's a pretty name! I am-"

"The Prince, I know. Every pony knows you. But, what am I doing here? How did I get here?"

"I saw you in my garden, but then you passed out and I brought you here so you can rest. How do you feel?"

"I-….. I feel better, thank you."

"You look hungry, would you like something to eat?"

"I- You don't have to give me anything your highness. I don't want to be a burden to you!"

"A burden? Listen, if you were a burden to me I wouldn't have brought you here. Now, do you want to eat something?"

"…. Yes, that would be nice….."

"What would you like?"

"I don't know, I'm happy with anything I can get."

"Well, then I'll call for a maid to bring some food. In the meantime, would you like a bath? How does that sound?"

"A bath? That would be wonderful. I haven't had a real bath for so long…"

"Alright, then it's settled. You just stay here and relax some more while I'll prepare a bath next door."

With that the Prince left the room, leaving a very confused and surprised mare back.

The feeling of hot and clean water on her coat felt amazing. It's been so long she had a real bath. The last years she could only clean herself in streams or when it was raining. But that wasn't very pleasant, it was always so cold. And she never really got clean enough.

ArchAngel leaned back against the bath tub, slipping deeper into the water. It was wonderful. She wished she could stay in here forever. She picked up a sponge and rubbed the dirt of her body, slowly dirty grey turned into snow white and her mane and tail felt like a heavy weight was lifted off them. It made her feel ashamed to see how dirty she really was. She was disgusted of herself.

"Do you have everything you need?"

The Prince looked through the door that connected his bedroom to his bathroom.

"Yes, thank you. Thanks for letting me use your bath."  
"No problem….. Is it ok if I come in?"

"Ergh…. Sure, ok."

The Prince entered and sat next to the bath tub. "I have a question. What exactly are you doing here in my castle?"

"I'm working here. I was suppost to plant new roses for you."

"Ah, so found work here?"  
"….. This work actually found me. I'm your slave!"

"Slave? What did you do?"

"I stole an apple from you. I…. was just so hungry. I didn't knew those apples were meant for you my Prince. I got caught by a royal guard and he brought me here. They decided to punish me by making me a slave for the royal family. That was last week. I've been working here since then….."

The Prince was shocked once again. That was the reason? Because of an stupid apple?

"That's ridiculous!"

"But it's a rule. It's a crime to steal from you. Besides, I was lucky. I could have been killed."

"Now that's very unlikely. No pony would kill another pony because of an apple!"

"Oh, you don't know what some ponies would do for an apple. I lived on the streets long enough to know."

"My god…. I had no idea. I-"

Just that moment they heard a knock on the door. The prince quickly turned around and spread his wings to form a curtain in front of the tub.

ArchAngel covered behind him.

A maid looked through the door and smiled. "Your highness, we brought the food you wanted."

"Yes, thank you. Place it on the table and leave!"

"As you wish." She disappeared through the door again and they heard other ponies move things around. As soon as it all quiet down, the Prince folded his wings back together.

"Well…. Dinner is served. I'll go out so you can get ready." And he left the bathroom.

The now again white mare climbed out of the tub and dried herself up.

After she was done she entered the bedroom. She was amazed by the amount of food that was now served on a table in front of the bed. There was apple sauce, apple pie, hay fries, carrot soup, baked tomatoes, cherries, bread and much more.

So much food!

She noticed the Prince chuckle as he watched her. She was actually drooling as she looked at the dinner in front of her.

"Well what're you waiting for? Dig in!"

"Aren't you going to eat something?" She asked him.

"Well, I wanted to wait a little longer but dinner with you sounds like a great idea. Take anything you want, we got enough for 10 ponies!"

The two of them then enjoyed their dinner and talked till late in the evening. They only noticed the time when they saw how high the moon was already.

"Oh god no! I should've been back in my cell by now! What do I do?"

It was obvious how scared she was. It's not a good thing if slaves don't do as they're told. She would be punished again if the guards notice she was still gone!

"Don't worry, I'll get you back to your cell."

"But how? They would see us!"

"Not if we use the corridors only I know about. There're many secret paths in and under the castle. I found them when I was a young colt and since then I use them to get somewhere faster or if I just want to get away. Come, follow me."

The prince then walked to his fireplace and pressed on a stone flower. Suddenly there was rumbling and the fireplace moved first a bit back into the wall and then to the side. He picked up a torch and walked inside the dark tunnel behind it.

She silently followed him, a bit scared. It was very dark in there and the only light they had came from the torch in his hoof.

They walked for a while until the Prince stopped again in front of a wall. He pulled in another torch and the wall opened. They now were under the castle in the cellar.

"Well….. It seems like our path splits here."

"So it seems….. Thank you so much for helping me and for the bath and the food. That was very kind of you."

"Like I said, it's no problem. I enjoyed your company. I would like to see you again some time!"

"That would be swell! But, if some pony sees us together-"

"Don't worry. Let's meet tomorrow evening again here at this wall when the sun goes down.

I'll be waiting for you."

"Thank you… For everything." She turned around and quickly sneaked into her cell and lay down on her hay bed. She fell asleep with a smile on her face. That night was the first night in months she had a wonderful dream. Because she dreamed of him. Her savior. Her Prince.


	2. Chapter 2

**The prince and the slave**

Chapter 2

ArchAngel woke up with a smile on her face. Sure, her back was sore because of the bit of hey on the ground she was sleeping on, but still. It's been so long she had slept that well. She remembered the wonderful dream she had, when the Prince came to her and treated her like a lady. She still remembered the warm feeling of clean water on her skin and the smell and taste of the food they enjoyed together. The most beautiful dream she ever had.

When she got up she felt a little heavy and….. full? Now she remembered, it wasn't a dream! She really had been with the Prince, used his bath and ate dinner with him!

And they danced in his rose garden, flew out of the kingdom and saw the clear night sky, magical forests and huge deserts and the ocean….. No. That really was a dream.

They never left the castle and they didn't dance together.

She got four left hooves anyway. But the rest, the rest was real!

Now she wished last night would have never ended. But it did and she couldn't change it.

A guard came by and brought some food, a piece of bread and some tiny carrots and a bowl of water.

"Eat up and get ready. You have to clean the halls today! Meet the first guard at the exit, he'll show you what to do!"

ArchAngel wasn't really hungry, she was still stuffed from the food from last night, so she hid the food under her hay bed, drank some water and left to meet with the first guard and some other slaves.

The first guard, a brown Pegasus, teamed the slaves up into 6 groups with four ponies each. He gave them cleaning utensils and send them to their duty.

ArchAngel spend most of the morning cleaning windows, carpets, the floors, pictures hanging on the walls, old knight suits, tables and much more. After she and her group, another mare and two stallions where done, they were allowed to have a short break back in their cells.

They were all exhausted, but they still found the strength to talk.

"How did you ended up here?", ArchAngel asked them.

The mare, a golden Earth pony with a white and orange mane and red eyes spoke first.

"My family and I had a honey farm and we used to sell honey to the royal family. Our busyness was good enough to have a nice life. But one day, the royal guards came and accused us to be traitors. At some point when we didn't noticed, somepony put poisen into our honey which was meant for the prince's uncle. He got really sick that day, but he survived. We tried to explain, but the Lord wouldn't listen. He wanted to behead us, so we tried to flee. My family made it, but I was left behind. Instead of being killed though, I was brought here to serve them. My name is Honey Bee by the way."

Next was one of the stallions, a white Pegasus with very short brown mane and tail.

"I'm Snowdancer and I've been a slave my whole life. I once tried to free myself and ran off, but I got caught and as punishment I was sold. That's how I got here."

The second stallion, a blue Unicorn with glasses was last.

"I lived on the street and stole money to survive. One day I wasn't very lucky and got caught as I tried to steal money from a Countess, a friend of the royal family. I, Finkle Berry used to be the best thief on the streets and got caught by a little colt. The countess's son saw me take the money."

"What about you?", Honey Bee asked ArchAngel.

"I stole an apple from the royal cart and got caught."

"Man, that sucks. It's like everything is a reason to become a slave nowadays!"

"This Prince sure isn't the greatest ruler. Treating us like dirt, leaving us to die here just so he can have a good life!" Finkle Berry kicked a small stone in anger.

"I-… Can't believe that. He looks so nice and kind!"

"Open your eyes ArchAngel, not every pony who got a nice face is a nice pony!"

"But-", she was about to answer and almost told them what happened last night when a guard came in.

"Break is over, get back to work!"

The rest of the day they spend cleaning the dining hall.

As the sun set, ArchAngel made her way to the wall she came through last night to meet the Prince again. She couldn't wait to see him again. She waited.

And waited.

And waited…..

The moon was already high and ArchAngel noticed that she almost fell asleep against the wall. He still wasn't there.

'Maybe he doesn't want to see me. Why should he? I'm just a stupid slave. I guess he got bored of me already'.

Slowly she made her way back into her cell and lay down to sleep.

The Prince kept looking at the clock every 2 minutes. It was amazing how much his advisers could talk and it didn't seem to end soon. He wanted to leave, get away from this boring conversation and see her again. He loved talking with that mare, they shared some interests.

And it was cute the way she acted. Whenever she laughed, she would shyly look away or cover her mouth with her hooves. Or she would burst out laughing and he just couldn't resist but to laugh along.

As soon as he got into his bedroom, he opened the secret door behind his fireplace and made his way down to the slaves's cells.

But when he opened the door, there was no ArchAngel. It was already late in the night, so she must be asleep by now. The Prince was sad, he had promised to meet her here, but thanks to his advisers, he had broken it.

The Prince thought of looking for her and apologize, but he didn't knew which cell was hers.

He turned around and went back to his room. He couldn't risk to get caught by his guards and try to explain why he was down there, because he never went down there.

That night he didn't got much sleep, too many things were rushing through his mind.

"Shut the buck up, stupid brain!", he told himself. Of course his brain wouldn't listen.

At some point, while he was half sleep, his thoughts wandered off and random things flashed in front of his closed eyes. Then, there! He thought of her. He thought of the fun they had and he felt guilty, because he broke his first promise to her.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already morning. The Prince felt like he didn't slept at all

"Screw those advisers and duties, I'm staying here today!"

He turned around and closed his eyes again.

While the Prince was still resting in his bed, the slaves were already up and started to work on whatever they were told to.

ArchAngel didn't wanted to think about the Prince, so she worked extra hard this day to keep her mind focused. She would talk with the other slaves as well and got to know them better. Maybe she could make some friends.

It was shortly before lunch when a guard came and told ArchAngel to stay in her cell today. They didn't all of the slaves today, they would only stand in the way.

As she was resting on her bed, she heard someone calling her name. She cautiously followed the voice and found herself at the secret wall again.

"Psst! Come inside!"

It was the Prince! He was calling for her. She turned around just once more to be sure that no pony had followed her and entered the secret path behind the wall.

The Prince and the mare were now face to face. She was more looking at his chin though. She had to look up to see his eyes. ArchAngel noticed his ears lay flat against his head and he looked a bit away, ashamed even.

"I'm…. sorry about yesterday. I wanted to come, but I couldn't get away soon enough. When I arrived, you were already gone. I'm really sorry."

"It's ok, you were busy. I just thought…. You wouldn't want to see me again…."

"That's not true, I really wanted to see you!... Come, I prepared a little something!"

It felt like forever as they were walking through the dark corridor as they suddenly stopped at a big wooden door.

They entered and ArchAngel was surprised to be in a bedroom. But it wasn't the Prince's bedroom.

"Where are we?"

"This is one of the secret rooms hidden inside the castle. I guess they were suppost to be hiding places for my ancestors if they should be under attack. No pony knows about them anymore. I managed to take a day free, so we can stay here all day long! Only, if you want to?"

"Of course, this room is beautiful!"

"I brought some food, if you're hungry."

"Thank you."

The rest of the day they spend the time together in that room, talking and just having fun.

Since that day they spend as much time together as possible. Of course the Prince couldn't see ArchAngel every day, he had so many duties as prince and couldn't be with her whenever he wanted.

She as well had a lot to do, sometimes she had to work till late in the night, sometimes even the night through. And then she would be too tired to leave her cell and just wanted to sleep.

But the time they had together was wonderful. For a few hours they could just forget about their lives, forget who they are and what they're meant to be and just be themselves, enjoying the presence of the other.

He would tell her about his life as Prince, his duties and about his interests and the funny but also sad things he went through.

She too, would tell him about her lost family, her parents and her little brother, how much she missed them and how it had changed everything.

"How exactly did you lose your family?"

She looked at her hooves.

"It was 4 years ago. We had lived in a nice house, my parents, my brother and I. I was 17, my brother was 12. I remember, he had just gotten his cutiemark a year before. It was during the night, we were all asleep. No pony heard the gang outside our house.

They were drunk, threw with bottles and it seemed like one of them hat matches with him or something. I don't know. All I know is, that when I woke up, I smelled smoke and I noticed that our house was on fire. I screamed, I called for my family.

I tried to get to them, but the fire already had reached the second floor where we all slept. At first I ran to my brother's room, but he wasn't there. I could hear my parents screaming, they were trapped in their bedroom but I couldn't reach them.

I tried, but the fire blocked the door. It also blocked the stairs, so I couldn't go downstairs either. All I could do was climb on our roof. Some pony had already called the fire department. One of them, a Pegasus, picked me from the roof and brought me to safety. I was treated and stayed in the hospital for the night. Our house was burned down to ashes. So were my parents and my brother. I didn't saw him in his room, but he must have hidden somewhere in the house.

Since then I've been all alone. I had no other relatives and most of our friends had moved away and I couldn't contact them. I was left alone to live on the streets, 'cause no pony would help me…."

He just stared at her.

Her eyes filled with tears and she was shaking. The wound was still too deep and the pain she felt was too great.

He took her into his arms, held her close and stroke her mane with his hoof.

"Shhht, shhht….."

He gently patted her head and rocked her to calm her down. She sobbed hard into his chest and he let her tears run down his coat.

To them it felt like forever until she finally calmed down. He still held her close, refused to let her go.

The Prince felt her pain and hated to see her this way. As he dried her tears, he noticed that she was fast asleep.

Quietly he picked her up and lay her on the big king sized bed in that secret bedroom

they used to visit the most, then he covered her body with a blanket.

He turned to leave, wanted to let her rest… But he couldn't leave her here, all by herself.

So he returned to the bed and lay next to her. She shifted a little, her expression changed and it seemed like she was troubled.

He came closer and cuddled up to her, took her back into his arms and she finally relaxed.

Silently he whispered into her ear.

"I'll never leave you alone. I promise. And I swear, I'll keep my promise this time."

He planted a kiss on her nose and fell asleep next to her.

For months now they had kept their friendship a secret from the world. And for months none of them had so much fun in their lives like they had during that time. They had decided not to just hide in the secret catacombs within the castle, but also to go outside. The two ponies would wander through the royal garden, see and smell all the beautiful flowers. Watch and listen to the animals playing or play hide and seek inside the small labyrinth at night.

Sometimes, the Princes invited the mare into his room in the tower to watch the stars with him. And whenever ArchAngel had to work outside, he would leap down his balkon and do tricks in the sky, flying with top speed through the clouds, deforming them or make them disappear. He made loopings, flew in circles, pretended to fall and shortly before he hit the ground, he would rise back up into the sky, leaving her in awe.

One time, during spring, he raced through the cherry trees, showering the small mare with pink cherry blossoms.

She loved to see him fly, envied him for his wings, for his ability to fly away if he wanted to and be free. But she also worried for him, if he got hurt she would care for his wounds. Then he would call her his "Little nurse".

One evening, summer had come, she was standing in his bedroom, looking out of the window, watching the stars.

"There're many stars tonight. Pretty, isn't it? And the moon is full tonight."

She sighed. "Yes, it's very pretty. A perfect night for a flight. I envy you!"

They stood there for a few minutes, silent.

"What would you say to a ride?"

"A ride? In a carriage?"

"No, a ride on me!"

"O-On you! W-w-wh-what do you mean by that?" She looked at him with wide eyes, blushing.

"I mean, that I would take you for a ride on my back. We could fly together!"

"Oh…..OH! Oh, y-yes that… Would be great! He he… ". She was ashamed, her face almost as red as her mane.

"Good. What did you thought I meant?" He looked at her and gave her a knowing grin.

"N-Not what you are thinking of!" She quickly turned around so she didn't have to look at him any longer.

"I see. Well, let's do it then."

She turned back around and he bowed down in front of her.

"Hop on!"

"I-I don't know…. I'm scared. What if I fall off?"

"Don't be scared. Do you trust me?"

"What?"

"I said, do you trust me?"

He waited for her to answer. She smiled and came closer. "Yes."

Slowly she climbed on his back, held onto him with all fours.

"Ready?"

"I-I guess-" Suddenly he spread his wings and dashed towards the big open window and leapt into the night sky.

ArchAngel held onto him with everything she had, screaming into his ear.

"Stop screaming and open your eyes! It's not that bad!" He chuckled as she slowly opened her eyes and her mouth hang open.

"Wow… This is awesome!"

"Let's go higher, then you'll see even more!" And with that the Prince flew higher and higher until they were above the clouds.

"Wow. I've never seen the moon so close before! I've never seen anything like it! It's wonderful…."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. But don't worry, there's more to come!"

Together they flew over the city, watching the ponies under them walk through the streets like ants, the stars and the moon above them and then forests underneath.

They flew and flew, it felt like they had never done anything else besides that. It felt so…. natural!

After something like hours they returned to the castle. He was pretty exhausted, also because he had to carry another pony on his back this time.

"Thank you thank you THANK YOU! This, was the coolest thing I've ever done!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. I had fun too. Puh, now I'm pretty worn out!"

"No wonder. I'm not really light."

"Nah, you're not heavy either. It's a good training, we should do that more often. Then I'll be a stronger flyer."

They both laughed at the comment. "It's very late, we should go to bed!"

"That's a pretty good idea!" He moved towards his bed and turned around to see her already open the door behind the fire place.

"Good night and sleep well."

"You know, I was more thinking of you-", but she already vanished behind the door.

"-sleeping here with me…..Damn!"

And again he went to bed alone that night. The Prince wondered how she always managed to change the subject or, like this time, disappear whenever he tried to go the next step.

"I guess giving her hints doesn't work on her."

It seemed like he needs to be clearer if he wants her to notice his affections. Apparently she still saw him as a 'friend'.

And that, he needs to change.


End file.
